Cate Blanchett arrived at the Museum of Modern Art last night for the premiere of Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” with two young men. They’d flown in from Paris as representatives of design house Balenciaga with Cate’s gown for the evening. That’s right: the dress had assistants. And that was as it should be since Blanchett is not fooling around in “Blue Jasmine.” Her turn as Jasmine–er, Jeanette–French is going to be hard to be beat come Oscar time.
I said this a couple of weeks ago. But now the A list came and they are pretty critical. Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell from CBS The Morning, Al Roker and Deborah Roberts, Sopranos creator David Chase, Bob Balaban and wife Lynn, the writer, many “Girls” cast members including Adam Driver, Alex Karpovsky, and Zosia Mamet, Cuba Gooding Jr., Martha Stewart, Amy Poehler, Natasha Lyonne (looking pretty swell), Evan Jongkeit, plus Tony nominee Billy Magnussen, and so on were just mesmerized by Blanchett’s Jasmine.
And then there’s Andrew Dice Clay, fully revived, 55 years old, with dyed jet black hair and a cool black tough looking vest. He’s got an autobiography coming out in January called “The Dirty Truth.” Entourage creator Doug Ellin is making a documentary about him.
Blanchett has a few scenes with him and Alec Baldwin, and one with him and Peter Sarsgaard that’s integral to the movie. It’s a big reveal. “I think like all of us he was nervous,” Cate said of ADC, whom she praised. The Dice Man said, “When we did that scene, I pulled Cate aside and said I can’t believe I’m working with all of you.”
Did Cate know who he was in advance? After all, she’s Australian. “Oh yes,” she said, smiling. Clay is infamous now even 25 years after the controversial peak of his career.
Of the cast, Baldwin, Sarsgaard, Louis CK and Michael Stuhlbarg were present. Stuhlbarg went to the after party at Harlow, as did Tammy Blanchard. Bobby Cannavale was unaccounted for, and Sally Hawkins is in England.
And Woody? His publicist Leslee Dart read a very brief text from Allen, who’s shooting his new film right now in Cannes and Nice with Colin Firth. “I am in the south of france filming and unable to be there tonight. I only wish i was in NY and unable to be there. My best to all, woody”
Allen is notorious for skipping his own premieres.
The premise of “Blue Jasmine” is sort of– I made this up- what if Blanche DuBois came to live with Stella because her husband was Bernie Madoff, and he’d lost everything. Jasmine’s husband. Hal (Baldwin) pulls a Madoff. But it has more far more dramatic results. Jasmine is destroyed. Woody so comprehended this character, and Blanchett so fully portrays her, that her tragedy is quite real on screen. And that means come Oscar time, Blanchett will have the lead in a tough, tough category.
